SOCIOLOGY: PAPER 1

Q1.

1. Sociology emerged in Europe and flourished to begin with on social reformist

orientation in the USA.” — Comment.
Answer: Sociology emerged in Europe due to the modernization process marked by
the Enlightenment, the French Revolution and the industrial revolution.
During Enlightenment the philosophical ideas guided by rationality rather than faith
and superstition started making way towards new thinking. French revolution
marked the arrival of political sovereignty and feudalism got replaced by
democracy.
During industrial revolution the systematic application of science and technology
was done to the production system. Though it increased profuction but threw up
many new problems as pollution, inhumane working conditions, child and women
exploitation in industries. Now, many thinkers thought that poverty and
exploitation are created by the human beings and are not natural. So, the solution
has to be found out by us only. Therefore, they started to study society, make laws to
predict and improve the conditions of living. Along with these thinkers, there were
conservationists such as Bonald and Maistre who wanted to go bck to the olden era.
Thus, they defined the goal that sociology should achieve.
In USA, it was the Chicago school which developed first. As Chicago was a rapidly
growing multi-ethnic society consisting of blacks and whites, the sociologist there
saw a new social process happening. They saw various immigrant cultures
developing and living in ghettos whose thoughts were different from American
thoughts. They started studying the society empirically. Dubois and Addams
conducted as study “the Philadelphia negro” which depicted the living conditions of
blacks under racial discrimination. As the sociologists there were pained by the
conditions of blacks, they started to think about the social reformation of society
which gave impetus to sociology in USA.

2. Compare and contrast Sociology with Anthropology.

Answer: Anthropology is a social science that is concerned with human culture as
well as the physical and social characteristics that create that culture. Often it will
compare one group of humans to another or even compare humans with animals. It
has its origin from physical anthropology and biology.
Sociology is the study of society, its institutions, principles, their origin and their
consequences on the society.
Anthropology studies pre-industrial societies which are relatively changing and lack
 historical records. Sociology studies the post industrial societies. Sociology is loaded
with values and ethical considerations whereas anthropology is neutral. For
anthropology the field is small and self contained whereas for sociology it is large
scale organizations.
Initially, there were differences in methodology as Anthropology used participant
observation and fieldwork. Gradually, sociologists also adopted these along with
surveys, questionnaire and interviews. William white used participant observation
in sociology.
Anthropology for long time used functionalism to understand the phenomena.
Sociology has many other approaches along with functionalism which it borrowed
from anthropology.
Therefore, in spite of initial differences, there is much of convergence now,
especially after II World War. In third World countries both modern and traditional
institutions exist so as an anthropologist we have to study urbanization and
industrialization and as a sociologist we have to study religion and caste. So, both
have become complementary now.

Sociology Anthropology

3. Critically examine positivistic approach in sociological studies.

Answer: Positivistic approach refers to the application of scientific approach in
sociology. Auguste Compe was the first sociologist to use positive approach in
sociology. He believed in the unity of scientific methods and thought that sociology
will also follow it. He believed that social reality resembles physical and natural
reality from outside and, therefore, patterns can be discovered and theories can be
developed.
Compte developed the positivistic approach in response to the ideas of
enlightenment. The thinkers of enlightenment portrayed ideal state of things. In this
way they were neglecting the reality. Thus, Compte wanted to study the sociology in
 the manner of natural sciences. Later the study of suicide by Durkheim set the
positivist tradition in sociology.

But, positivism has an inherent shotcoming that it neglects the motives and
meanings in any social act. Neo-Kantians believed that social reality is characterized
by the presence of geist and this consciousness is manifested in terms of meanings
and motives. Based on that action choice follows and social reality is created.

They believed that as different actors interpret the same situation in different ways,
they give different meanings. So, it becomes difficult to pattern them and a
sociological theory can’t be fruitful. Later on Weber carried this forward by his
concept of Verstehan.

Thus, positivism led the foundation of sociology and was the dominant theme in the
initial phase but today we need different perspectives to understand the social
reality in its totality.

4. Examine science and technology as agents of social change.

Answer: Social change is a long term process happening in almost every aspect of
society viz. social institutions, economic organizations, etc. Many factors such as law,
education and religion contribute to it. But, it is the science and technology which
accelerates this process by first changing itself and then putting pressure on other
aspects to change.
Marx first highlighted the importance of science and technology in terms of forces of
production leading to changes in relations of production. Leslie White argued that
when there is increase in per capita consumption of a society then the techno-
economic component puts pressure on organizational component of culture to
change.
But, when this change happens without any change in cultural aspects of society
then it creates conflict which Ogburn called as “Cultural Lag”. He explains furher
that any technological change demands a social support system which needs social
reorganization. For e.g. automobiles need roads, engineers, fuel stations, etc.
In India, technological changes have impacted the lives of people in many ways. It
includes gender equality as women are getting employment, economic growth with
increase in efficiency, secularization of life goals is happening and new methods of
learning has opened new vistas for the young generation.
Although science and technology accelerates the social change but it will be more
peaceful if these changes are indigenous and slow. Also, they must be acceptable to
all. Otherwise some affected groups can use the same technology to stop its spread.

5. Analyze the contemporary trends in family with examples.

Answer: Various types of contemporary trends in family are as follows.
(a) Nuclear Family: In this parents live with their unmarried children. Because of
increasing mobility and being structurally fit with industrialization (Parsons) this
 kind of family is the most common.
(b) Lone Parent Family: As women are becoming independent, they are becoming
more assertive. Unable to compromise in a failed relationship they move out and
give divorce to their husbands. This leads to a single parent family and represents
the growing status of women in the society.
(c) Reconstituted Family: These kinds of families are formed when two divorced
people marry each other. In this way they bring children from their previous
families.
(d) Same Sex Family: Gay and Lesbian marriages are becoming common in the
western countries. Assisted by modern technology of reproduction they can easily
progress their families. This is a hallmark of advanced societies but still a far cry in
developing countries. In India recently Supreme Court declared it illegal.
(e) Live in Family: These families signify the ethos of growing inequality and
increasing choices. With increase in consumerist ideals, couple wants to check their
compatibility before settling down as family. This is also more popular in developed
countries than the developing ones.
(f) Small Family: Today, the norm is of small family. China’s one child policy is the
classic example of government initiative for small families. Even women are not
ready to bear more children today as it hampers their independence.
Thus, new family norms are arising because of new changes happening in the
society such as industrialization and urbanization. Not all are socially accepted but
with time there will be more acceptances by the people.

Q2.

1. Analyze the limitations of quantitative methods in social research.

Answer: Quantitative methods are those methods who advocate the use of scientific
and quantitative methods for sociological analysis. Various examples of data
collection in quantitative research are surveys, questionnaires, interviews, and
comparative methods. Durkheim used this method in his study of suicide.
The strength of quantitative research is that it produce quantifiable, reliable data that can
be generalized to some larger population. Quantitative analysis also allows researchers to
test specific hypotheses, in contrast to qualitative research, which is more exploratory.
The weakness of the quantitative approach is that it decontextualizes human behavior in a
way that removes the event from its real world setting and ignores the effects of variables
that have not been included in the model. It also lacks a depth and richness of data that is
present with qualitative research. Because there are so many participants using
quantitative methods, it is impossible to know the details about each and every one.
Laboratory experiments such as in natural sciences are not possible in social sciences. It is
because the laboratory experiments are performed in unnatural setting. If subjects are not
informed then it leads to ethical issues and if they are informed then it will change their
behavior.
 Compared to quantitative data, qualitative data are seen as much richer, more vital, as
having greater depth and are more likely to present a true picture of the ways of life of the
people, their experiences, attitudes and beliefs. Those who belong to interpretative strand
such as symbolic interactionists and the phenomenologists prefer the qualitative methods.
As reality is very complex and no one method is proper to study it. Thus, for a proper
sociological enquiry we need to complement with different methods. Thus, both
quantitative ad qualitative methods are needed for a fruitful and useful sociological
enquiry.

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2. Critically examine the functionalist tradition in Sociology

Answer: Functionalist tradition in sociology was started by Durkheim, popularized
by Parsons and then improvised by Merton. Functionalists bring in the biological
analogy to understand the society.
Functionalists assumes that society is an integrated whole made up of integrated
parts. These parts work in tandem for the benefit of society. They believe that every
society has some basic needs and which must be fulfilled for its survival. They
believe that a certain degree of order and stability is necessary for the operation of
the social system. Therefore, they look at every phenomenon as to how it is
integrate with other parts of society, how far it meets the basic needs and how it
helps to maintain the order on the society.
Durkheim’s theory of religion is a good example of functionalist explanation. In his
explanation Durkheim showed how religion increases the solidarity among its
members and regulates the conduct of its members. Parsons explanation of
stratification is another example of functionalist tradition. In this he argues that
 every society has some value consensus and those who strengthens it are placed
higher on the stratification level than those who don’t conform to societal values.
But, functionalist tradition has been criticized for neglecting the conflict and
accounting fro change. They tend to focus more on maintaining the stability of
society and thus justify the status quo.
These criticisms were answered by Merton and in this way he accommodated
conflict in the fold of functionalism. He introduced the concept of dysfunctions. He
argued that the functional aspect of any phenomenon should be looked at the level
of individual, group and society. If by overall analysis, we find that the phenomenon
is dysfunctional or having negative consequences for society then we must
acknowledge that there is conflict. Once we do that, we must look for functional
alternatives. Thus by replacing the dysfunctional part by another functional part,
functionalists acknowledge and gave a way to solve the conflicts in the society.

3. Analyze the salient features of historical materialism.

Answer: Historical Materialism is that perspective of society which traces the
ultimate cause of all important events to the economic development of society.
According to Marx, this materialism is dialectic in nature i.e. clash of thesis and
antithesis to give synthesis.
Initially man tried to control the nature for food and shelter. In the process he
developed the forces of production. With the cooperation between the members of
society there developed relations of production. This productive organization was
referred to, by Marx, as the substructure of society. Social institutions such as
religion, law, eduation and kinship were referred as the super structure of society.
Those who own the forces of production are called as owners and they are the ones
who affect the superstructure. In this way the society gets divided into owners and
non-owners. As the time progresses the material conditions change which leads to
some contradictions in the society. Due to this the clash happens and finally the
resolution of conflict leads to social change.
Marx explained social changes happening in two different ways.
(1) The forces of production changes faster than the relations of production. These
new forces of production come in conflict with old relations of production. As these
forces of production put pressure on the old relations of production it finally
replaces them to new relations of production. For e.g. During French revolution
feudal relations were replaced by the capitalist relations.
(2) This kind of change happens by the conflict between owner and the non-owner
class. Marx predicted that due to excessive exploitation of proletariat by the
bourgeoisie class there will be a situation where proletariat class will overthrow the
bourgeoisie class to give rise to a classless society. But, in reality this change never
happened.
But, Historical Materialism represents only one side of social change. Change can
also happen from superstructure to sub structure. For e.g. Weber in his study of
Protestant ethics explained the role of religion in developing the spirit of capitalism.
Although Marx’s theory failed to predict the future but gave great insights into the
 problems of capitalism and inspired many communist regimes.

Q3.

1. Compare Karl Marx with Emile Durkheim with reference to the framework of
‘division of labor’.
Answer: Division of labor refers to the system of relationships among the
individuals of society which help them to carry out their day to day activities.
Despite their differences, both Marx and Durkheim admitted that division of labor is
an integral part of modern industrial society. Largely, their studies were a response
to the consequences of industrialization witnessed by them.

For Durkheim, division of labor is the basis of society. It is only because of division
of labor individuals co-operate with one another to fulfill their needs. But, unlike
Durkheim, Marx didn’t view division of labor as a means of cooperation and stressed
more on exploitation and conflict. He regards division of labor as closely related to
the concept of private property. It is the class who owns private property also owns
means of production and then exploits the other class. Therefore, it is forced upon
the proletariat class by the bourgeoisie class.
 According to Durkheim, associeties change from simple to complex, the basis of
solidarity changes from mechanical to organic. It happens mainly because of
specialization and the consequent interdependence among individuals. But, for
Marx the exploitative character of class doesn’t change over the period of time. In
the feudal societies it was nobles who exploited the slaves and in the capitalist
societies it is the bourgeoisie exploiting the proletariat.

For Durkheim division of labor leads to social integration as people depend more
upon each other by doing complementary activities. But, Marx views it as leading to
dehumanization of work force. Workers are reduced to commodities, their creativity
is taken away and they become just parts of the production process. Therefore, it
leads to alienation.

To solve the problems related to division of labor, Durkheim advocates the

replacement of pathological forms of labor with normal forms of labor. Therefore,
end of normlessness or anomie is a necessary condition for a healthy society. For
Marx, there is no way of solving the problems related to division of labor in the
capitalistic system. The only solution lies in ending the concept of private property
by communal ownership of forces of production i.e. communism.

Thus, both looked at the concept differently. Durkheim responded in a functional

manner and gave an explanation to maintain social order. Marx looked at it from
conflict perspective i.e. conflict between haves and have-nots. Finally leading to
change and ending the concept of have-nots from society.

2. Critically analyze the contributions of G.H. Mead to ‘symbolic interactionism’.

Answer: Symbolic interactionism is a branch of sociology which focuses on the
micro level intereractions. Interractionists explain the social action in terms of
meanings which actors attach to the situation. In this way they come closer to the
Weber’s position and stand opposite to Durkheim’s position of social determinism.

Mead through his concept of “self” explains how thoughts and actions of an
individual are shaped by the society and how the society regulates the individual
and, thus, provides the basis for cooperative action in the society.

Mead says that human interactions take place in terms of symbols. These symbols
provide means for interaction as the actors give meanings to these symbols whose
meanings are shared by all. According to Mead, this human interaction takes place
through the process of “role taking”. It means observing yourself from the
perspective of others i.e. with whom you are interacting. This can happen when a
person becomes object to itself.

There are two stages of development of self

(1) Play Stage: when children play games such as police-thief they understand that
 these roles are different from them.
(2) Game Stage: Here, the person observes himself from the perspective of
“generalized other” i.e. from the overall attitude of society towards that person.

Once developed, this self has two parts, “I” and “Me”. “I” is your evaluation of
yourself in a social context and “Me” is the overall evaluation of yourself. This “I”
component is responsible for difference in behaviors of two people in a similar
situation. “Me” component is the one which society expects from everyone in a
similar situation. Thus, “Me” is the component of society into an individual.

Further, Mead argues that by becoming self conscious the individual thinks and
plans his future. By becoming self aware he knows what society expects from him.
Therefore, he changes his behavior, modifies it and in this way society regulates the
behavior of the individual and provides the basis of cooperative action.

Though Mead gave a micro level theory but drifted too much towards meanings and
motives of an individual. He has been criticized on following aspects
(1) He neglected the influence of social setting on the behavior of an individual.
(2) The meanings given by actors are not always unique; the meanings are also
generated by social context.
(3) He failed to explain the fact that many individuals behave similarly in some
particular situation. Thus, he neglected the presence of social norms.
Hence, for a proper sociological enquiry we need to focus on both social
determinism and interactionism.

3. Examine the salient features of Weberian bureaucracy.

Answer: Weber defined bureaucracy as, “a hierarchical organization rationally
designed to coordinate work of many individuals in the pursuit of large scale
administrative tasks and organizational goals.”

He regarded bureaucracy as one of the rational structures of modern society which

is superior to any other structure in terms of precision, stability, reliability and
technical superiority. He considered bureaucracy as an efficient way to achieve large
scale organizational goals and, therefore, inevitable in a modern industrial society.

Works in bureaucracy are organized as offices and the activities are called as official
duties. Offices are arranged in hierarchy which acts as a chain of command where
the orders are produced at the top and then communicated to others. Every decision
is interpretation of general rule in specific situation and general rules are the basic
rules to follow. Work in bureaucracy is a full time career and the recruitment is done
on the basis of merit and there exists a rational system of rewards.

This is an ideal model represented by Weber and many bureaucracies of the world
resemble some of the features with Weberian model. Though this model is suitable
 for normal times, but in the times of crisis or change it fails to perform. In the
absence of rules there exists a trained incapacity among bureaucrats and they
become inefficient. Also, sticking too much to the rules and regulations also hampers
the development of the weaker sections of society. Though rules must be followed
but that must not become obstacle in achieving the goals of policy makers.

Q4.

1. How open and closed systems of stratification undergoing transformation in

the emergence of new hierarchical social order in Societies?
Answer: Open system of stratification is the one in which norms and values of a
given society encourage mobility across the social structure. Here, individual talent,
ability, and hard work get preference over ascribed characteristics. Class based
stratification present in European society is an example of open system.
A closed system is one where norms and values of a given society discourage
mobility across the social structure. Here, ascribed characteristics get preference
over individual talent, ability, and hard work. Caste based stratification; ethnicity
and race based stratification are the examples of closed system.
Though no system is totally closed or open though the degree may vary. With new
forces such as industrialization, urbanization, globalization, high growth, more
access to education and democracy both the systems are opening up. Changes in
open system are happening faster than the changes in closed system.
We have three studies to analyze the mobility in the British society. David glass
study in 1949 found out that the intergenerational mobility was less and only short
range. It means that the sons were moving to the adjacent category to their fathers.
Oxford mobility study in 1972 found more mobility and longer range than the
previous study. Although absolute mobility increased but the relative mobility was
still low indicating that inequality of opportunity was there among different classes.
Finally, the Essex study in 1984 found out more mobility because of expansion of
white collar jobs. Also, it revealed that mobility among women is also increasing
though women are more concentrated in certain occupations. A recent study by
Goldthorpe concludes that the long range mobility which was found in Essex study
is declining and it is not possible to achieve that level of mobility now
In case of race based stratification Brown and Gay conducted a study in Britain.
They send fake job applications on behalf of different nationals and found that the
response was positive for 90% of English cases and only 63% of Asians. Tariq
Madood in 1997 found out the same thing. So, race based stratification is not
opening as fast as class based stratification.
Santosh Goyal in India found out that 38% of CEOs were from Dvija class, which is
more than their actual percentage share in population. Yogendra Singh in his study
in Rajasthan found out that 80% of university professors are from higher class.
Thus, this indicates the closed character of caste based stratification.
Thus, it is important that closed systems should accelerate their degree of openness;
otherwise it will hamper the development of the society and will generate more
conflict.
2. Is patriarchy a universal phenomenon? Critically examine how does
patriarchy affect sexual division of labor in societies?
Answer: Though patriarchy is the most pervasive ideology and nearly universal but
not the universal phenomenon. Patriarchy refers to a system of unequal power
relations between man and woman. Because of this, gender based stratification
develops and woman are deprived of equal opportunities and equal status with
respect to man. When this gender based inequality extends into the division of labor
then it leads to sexual division of labor.
Sexual division of labor and patriarchy are closely related to each other. In
patriarchy, the conduct of woman is regulated. She represents the honor of society
so she is not allowed to mingle with people as men are allowed. This leads to
compulsory domesticity and when it is practiced over the years it leads to
internalization of patriarchal ideology.
Robin Fox has mentioned that adaptation to the hunting and gathering life for many
years as the reason for sexual division of labor. Shulamit Firestone has talked about
biological factors such as pregnancy, breastfeeding of child and long periods of
dependence as the reason of sexual division of labor. G.P Murdoch in his study found
that 224/250 societies have sexual division of labor which shows the near universal
extent of patriarchy in the World.
But, today there are changes happening in sexual division of labor. Women are
getting useful employment and are challenging the traditional patriarchal mindset.
With contraceptives and other technological innovations women are overcoming
their biological weaknesses. This change is in fact challenging the patriarchy and its
torchbearers. Though some say that a working woman gives less time to children
leading to delinquency. But, Ann Oakley replies by saying that a working woman
gives more quality time to her child.
Thus, both patriarchy and sexual division of labor affect each other. Once patriarchy
was responsible for division of labor and now the changing sexual division of labor
is changing the patriarchy.

3. Examine the role of pressure groups in parliamentary democracy.

Answer: Pressure groups formally organized groups which pressurize the
government to make policies favorable to them. They are the characteristic of
modern political system and are directly linked to modern parliamentary
democracy.
According to Parsons, they are the direct result of structural differentiation. With
structural differentiation the groups emerge in specialized form, when they organize
themselves in pursuit of their interests then they are called as interest groups. When
these interest groups pressurize the government then they are called as pressure
groups.
 They are created when there is lack of their interest aggregation by the political
parties. They remain outside the formal decision making process and are therefore
not responsible for any action. They are not accountable. They are not bound by the
rules. They work in anonymity. The positive thing is that they do research and
educate the government about the issues. Thus they play an important role in
raising the voice of poor and left out people through their medium. In this way, they
help to strengthen democracy and make it more vibrant. For example Narmada
Bachao Andolan raised the voice of local communities and made the government
understood about the plights of local people.
If a pressure group is doing a positive work, then it will be more acceptable to the
people. A natural consequence will be that pressure group will become a political
party. In this way it will use democracy to represent the will of people. For e.g.
Arvind Kejriwal was initially associated with a pressure group and finally end up
launching a political party as there was social acceptance of his cause.
But, not all pressure group behave in this positive way. Some, resort to violence and
agitation to prove their point. Though dissent and agitation is allowed in democracy
but when it becomes violent then it undermines the democracy and its institutions.
For e.g. Gujjar community resorted to violence when they were denied reservation
under ST category in Rajasthan.
Almond and Powell have classified the pressure groups into different types. These
are
(a) Associational Pressure groups: FICCI, CII
(b) Non- Associational Pressure groups: Gujjar agitation
(c) Institutional Pressure groups: Lobbies within an institution
(d) Anomic Pressure groups: Riots and assassinations
Thus, pressure groups are inevitable and essential parts of a parliamentary
democracy. In many ways they make the democracy meaningful for the people. But,
when they undermine it then they must be punished by the democratic institutions
to repose people’s faith in democracy.

Q5.

1. Distinguish between people being socially excluded and people excluding

themselves socially in societies.
Answer: People being socially excluded are those people who have been excluded
by the society. They are forced directly to get themselves excluded or the society
creates certain conditions for their exclusion. People excluding themselves are those
who exclude themselves from the society purposely and voluntarily. As they have
certain characteristics which are different than the average member of society they
retain those characteristics and maintain their exclusivity.
Various examples of people being socially excluded are dalits in the caste system,
tribal people, underclass people in the class based stratification, blacks in USA and
many others. Dalits are excluded because their touch is defiling and affects the
 purity of upper castes. Tribal people are excluded as their ethnic identity is different
and many of their cultural practices are socially prohibited in mainstream societies.
For e.g. drinking liquor by women. Under class people are excluded as they have a
different lifestyle which doesn’t match the life of other people.
This exclusion affects the people those who are excluded in a negative manner. It
hampers their right to freedom and expression. It provides them inequality of
opportunity and deprives them of many facilities. It is through law and constitution
the rights of these people can be protected as has been done in Indian constitution.
Various examples of people excluding themselves socially are big businessman,
celebrities, cricketers, dacoits and politicians. Celebrities and big business man
exclude themselves as they occupy a higher position in terms of popularity. It is
their exclusive nature itself which makes them important. Thus, by excluding they
maintain their distinctiveness. Dacoits do it as they are doing something which
society doesn’t approve of. If they don’t exclude then they will be caught and will
cease to be dacoit. Even politicians today are excluding themselves from the society.
Once they come to power they are least concerned about the people. This trend is
not good for the political democracy and the politicians must be in touch with the
people frequently.

2. Define social movement. Elucidate the role of reformist movements in social

change.
Answer: A social movement is defined as a sustained collective action which must
have a change orientation. It requires ideology, leadership and a lose organization to
coordinate its activities.
Various reasons for social movement to happen are a sense of relative deprivation
and mismatch between capabilities and aspirations. Neil. J. Smelser has identified
six conditions which are sufficient for a social movement. These are structural
conduciveness, structural strain, generalized beliefs, precipitating factor,
mobilization for action and failure of social control.
Social reform movements have an important role in social change. They critically
analyze the norms and traditions present in the present society. With the
acculturative contact with the outside world, a society gets exposed to new ideas
and that facilitates the change. For e.g. In India, British exposed us to the ideas of
equality, individualism, liberty and fraternity. Inspired by these ideals, many
educated Indians fought against the dogmatic and conservative beliefs present in
traditional Indian society.
According to MSA Rao the reform movements seek a limited changeoften in a
gradual manner and rely on the legitimate methods to bring about that change. For
e.g. In India various social reformers such as Raja Ram Mohan Roy (Arya Samaj),
Dayanand Saraswati (Brahmo Samaj) and Vivekananda (Ramkrishna Mission)
fought against child marriage, sati, widow remarriage and inhuman treatment. By
pressurizing British they succeeded in passing laws against them.
 3. “Science has empirical means to logical ends and religion has non-empirical
means to logical ends.” — Comment.
Answer: Empirical means which can be verified with the observation and
experiments. Non- empirical is one which can’t be verified and have to be accepted
as such. Though they are opposite in this sense. But, both of them are means to a
common end of human welfare and well being of society. Therefore, in social life
they both are complementary.

Science is useful in increasing efficiency and making the life easier by providing
constant inventions. But, today in this fast moving world there is environment of
uncertainty which creates anxiety in the minds of people. As science can’t relieve
this anxiety because there is no finality in science, there is only probability.
According to Malinowsky, it is the religion which relieves the anxiety by promising
absolute rewards. For e.g. many civil service aspirants after failing twice or thrice in
exam go to priests for their success. In, this way they are complementary to each
other. But, in the end they are serving the same purpose.
As society is becoming more and more consumerist it is degrading the environment.
Because of this natural balance is getting disturbed. As man doesn’t want to change
the consumerist behavior it tries to overcome the wrath of nature by practicing
religion. Recently, many devotees who went to the temples of Uttarakhand died
because of bad weather leading to floods. In this way, religion failed to provide
logical end. So, there is limitation of religion and in that sense science too. Being
non-empirical it is impossible to judge the validity of religion.

Scien
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Social Life of a
Person

Religi
on
4. Examine the social dimensions of displacement induced by development.
Answer: Our present development process is the one who looks at environment and
poor people as drag on the development process. According to Amratya Sen we
must see development as the process to increase freedom of human beings. As
environment itself is a way to increase human freedom, then the development
process itself will become environment and people friendly.
It is the tribal and mostly the village people who are affected by the displacement
induced by development. Various development projects which involve displacement
are dams, roads, industries and mining. The problem is not only displacement but
the failure of rehabilitating them. A study by Walter Fernandes shows that only 18%
of tribal people were rehabilitated. Today, of the displaced people 50% are tribal
people. In many cases they got the land on paper but not in practice because of local
dominance of higher castes.
The life of tribal people is intrinsically linked with the environment and forests.
They are heavily dependent on the forests and live in a symbiotic relationship with
them. Once they are displaced the tribal people lose their natural setting of rivers,
forests and are devoid of minor forest produce. Instead they are forced into the
mainstream economy where they feel total alienation. As they don’t have any skills
the men end up in informal sector and get exploited. Women also enter informal
sector and few end up in prostitution. The children drop out of schools and end up
being child labor. Thus, for the development of country we are sacrificing the
development of tribal people. This is not inclusive development and will lead to
more conflicts in future.
Though, we have enacted a new land acquisition act and it will improve the situation
but the fault lies with the overall way we treat the tribal people. We must integrate
them in the society rather than assimilate them.

5. Analyze the gender bias in the present society with examples.

Answer: The gender bias is there in almost every aspect of present day society.
Starting from childhood to adulthood to old age, the gender bias is inherent in both
the men and women of the society.
Female feticide and infanticide are the examples of gender bias when the girl child is
just born. Even women are involved in these cruel acts because of the mentality
which is described by Veena Das as “internalization of patriarchy. As son gives
honour to mother and will be helpful in old age, mothers resort to female feticide.
Even religion contributes to the gender bias. In the daily life, the feeding practices
are such that the women and the girls eat in the end which leads to compromise of
food by the girl child. In poor households, the girl child doesn’t get proper food
leading to malnutrition and death.
In the adult hood there is gender bias in dowry practice. As women are economically
dependent on men they are seen as burden and dowry demanded by the in-laws to
support the woman. But, they forget to put the monitory value to the household
work done by women. Also, in employment women don’t have equal opportunity to
get jobs because of their biological disadvantage of bearing and rearing the child.
 Moreover, we need gender sensitivity in some cases. For e.g. in transport there is
need of low floor buses, there is more sensitivity needed by police and women need
special protection in the cases of violence against women. The absence of these
sensitivities can also be classified as gender bias.
To tackle this gender bias we need to tackle patriarchy, economic dependence of
women and reform the religion. This all will be done if concerted efforts by the
women group are made and they get positive response from the men folk.

Q6.

1. How do Karl Marx and Weber differ in terms of their analysis of social
stratification?
Answer: Karl Marx viewed society from a conflict perspective and highlighted the
negative impacts of it. But, the Weber’s conception of stratification was positive and
acceptable than the Marx’s conception of stratification.
Various parameters on which we can discuss their analysis are
Basis: For Marx the most important basis of inequality is economic inequality. But,
for Weber it was multidimensional and it consisted of economic basis, power and
status as other dimensions of stratification.
Structure: For Marx, the structure consists of minority rich and majority poor.
Minority owns the forces of production and controls the majority who owns nothing
but their labor. For, Weber the structure of society is divided into four classes. These
are propertied upper class, property less white collar workers, petty bourgeoisie
and manual working class.
Consequences: The non-owners are being exploited by the owners. They work hard
but get little share with respect to the produce. There happens pauperization,
polarization and homogenization leading to violent revolt. But, Weber disagreed
with Marx and proposed that at the maximum the workers will resort to sabotage
and strike. There is a least possibility of revolution.
Desirability: Marx was pained by the existing exploitation of man by man to fulfill
his animal desires and therefore wanted a classless society i.e. communism. Weber
believed that stratification is going to stay as it is necessary for modern society.

Therefore, Weber improved upon the model of stratification provided by Marx.

Marx analysis was enriching but the prediction was wrong. But, Weber’s analysis
was more fruitful and close to reality.

2. Examine the social impact of globalization on labour and society.

Answer: Globalization is the process of interaction and integration of domestic
economies with the international economy. It happens through movement of people,
technology, capital, trade, investment and services.
1. Employment: In-formalization of economy is happening. MNC's are
outsourcing the work to informal sector. Closure of sick and loss making
 enterprises along with downsizing has resulted in unemployment. As
competition is tough, companies are hiring more on contract basis to avoid
giving benefits to the employees.
2. Trade Unions: They are voluntarily suspending their trade union rights for a
specific period. They are accepting cut in wages and salaries. Thus, their
bargaining power has decreased.
3. Agriculture: Input cost is increasing as HYVs, fertilizers and other inputs are
controlled by profit seeking MNCs.GM crops will further affect them as they
will have to buy new seeds every time. Even government can't subsidize
them beyond 10% as mandated under WTO rules.
4. Women: Feminization of agriculture as men migrates to other areas for jobs.
Women are more involved in home based work which is low paying and
unskilled work.
5. Environment: Global warming as countries are all connected. MNCs are
taking benefits of lax environment rules of developing countries. Kyoto
protocol is also helping the process.
6. Inequality: Rich is becoming richer and poor poorer. Those who have skills,
assets and capital are benefited at the cost of others. That absolute poverty
has gone down but the relative poverty is increasing. Regional inequality is
also growing as MNCs are investing in those states that have better
infrastructure.
7. Family: From joint to nuclear family.
8. Consumerism: Consumerism is growing. Demand for fast food and consumer
durables have increased.
9. Human Rights: Awareness about these has increased.

Thus, globalization has both positive and negative effects. In fact, globalization as
such is neutral and much depends on how it is managed by the government of the
day. To minimize the impact of negative effects more government intervention and
community participation is a must.
3. Examine the relevance of Parsonian Social System in the present society.
Answer: According to Parsons, social system is an analytical tool to study society
and its various parts. A system is a unified whole made up of interdependent parts
called as subsystems. These subsystems are connected with each other in a
patterned way. Every system has a well defined goal which defines its boundaries.
Beyond the boundaries there is environment which is always in flux. There exists
dynamic equilibrium as system always tries to maintain equilibrium but as the
system try to orient itself to equilibrium the environment changes.
Every system has universal needs and derived needs. Universal needs are necessary
for a system to exist but the derived needs may vary. He identifies four universal
needs viz. adaptation, goal attainment, integration and latency.
Today, Parsons’ social system approach is very much relevant. In this
interconnected world where all the culture and various systems in a culture affect
each other, Parsons provides a conceptual framework of analysis and the ways to
solve the conflict. For e.g. if two subsystems of a system are not working properly,
there is a need for latency for its proper functioning. Consider family as a system.
 The changes in economy are affecting the changes in family system. Thus, various
subsystems are affecting each other.
We can understand even Naxalism using Parsons’ approach. The social life of tribal
people was affected by the need for economic development. Though the changes in
their life happened but there were no efforts made to retrain them so as to ensure
their economic dependence. As, there was lack of coordination among various
systems there occurred conflict. Even globalization, urbanization, changes in caste
system and many other phenomenons can be easily understood by parsons’ social
system approach. Though Parsons didn’t do any empirical work while giving his
systems approach but still this approach is relevant today.

Q7.

1. Evaluate how do civil society and democracy mutually reinforce each other.
Answer: Civil society is seen as a social sphere separate from both the state and
the market. The increasingly accepted understanding of the term civil society
organizations is that of non-state, not-for-profit, voluntary organizations formed
by people in that social sphere. This term is used to describe a wide range of
organizations, networks, associations, groups and movements that are
independent from government and that sometimes come together to advance
their common interests through collective action.
Democracy at present is the best form of governance. Through its institutions and
ideals it provides a platform for discussion and debates. Conflicts can be resolved
in a peaceful manner. There is emphasis on equality, liberty, fraternity and respect
for diversity.
Taking a positive note of the civil society as promoter of democratic form of
governance, Scholte identifies six areas where civil society could advance
democracy.
1) Public education—The civil society enhance democracy through educating the
public. An informed citizenry could sustain effective democracy. To accomplish
this goal civil, society groups can prepare handbooks and information kits,
produce audio-visual presentations, organize workshops, attract the attention of
the mass media, maintain websites on the Internet, and develop curricular
materials for schools and institutions of higher education.
2) Voice to stakeholders—Civic associations can opportune the concerned parties
to relay information, testimonial, and analysis to governance agencies about their
needs and demands. Civil society organisations can give voice to neglected social
circles like the poor, women and persons with disability leading to greater
participatory democracy.
3) Policy inputs—Government policy formulation is considerably influenced from
the Inputs given by the civil society not only at home but also in the international
arena. They have also constantly raised issues pertaining to ecological imbalances,
made qualitative assessments of poverty.
4) Transparency of governance—Vigilant civic mobilization can cause public
transparency in governance. Constant pressure from civil society can help in
bringing regulatory frameworks and operations into the open, where they could
 be accessed for public scrutiny.
5) Public accountability—Civic groups can keep an eye on the implementation and
effects of policies regarding people and press for corrective measures when the
consequences are adverse.
6) Legitimacy—The sum total of the preceding actions by the civil society could
lead to a legitimate democratic rule. Legitimate rule prevails when people concede
that an authority has a right to govern and that they have a duty to obey its
directives. As a result of such consent, legitimate governance tends to be more
easily, productively and nonviolently executed than illegitimate and dictatorial
authority.

Democracy also reinforces civil society by cracking on non-democratic institutions

such as Khap panchayats. In India, the traditional order characterized by caste
system and gender inequalities is inherently against the ideals of democracy. So,
democracy though its institutions punish the activities which goes against its spirit
and thus democratize it.

Civil Democra
Society cy

2. Examine the emerging trends in marriage and family as a response to the

changes in economic and social order.
Answer: Today, in this World of industrialization and globalization all the
contemporary societies are in transition and changing fast. Family and marriage
being a part of society are also changing rapidly.
Parsons and Goode argued that the family is changing from extended type to
nuclear type. Parsons told that nuclear family is a structural fit with the industrial
society. In fact, he talked about structurally isolated nuclear family. However these
views have been challenged by Peter Laslett who identified a nuclear family type
 of Western Europe which was responsible for the early industrialization of
Europe. Michel Anderson through his study concluded that the early stage of
industrialization lead to extended family among the working class.
Margaret O’Brien and Jones have talked about lone parent families, reconstituted
families and dual earner families. Rapports have talked about live-in families, gays
and lesbian families and commune living. In China, one child policy is affecting the
family norms.
Regarding marriage, the relations have become more egalitarian. Women are
having more independence and are less dependent on men. Conjugal roles are
changing. British attitudes survey concludes that men are participating more in
child care and household work. But, feminists dispute this claim by saying that the
decision takenm by women are of small nature and not so important. Also, society
neglects the invisible work done by women. Marriage rates have come down in
France. Divorce rates have increased. So, the changes are good for the economy
but dysfunctional for family. The trend is more towards increasing diversity.
In India, the extent of change is not as drastic as it is in western societies.
Although, consumerism is increasing, violence is increasing but the institution of
family is surviving. Nuclear families are increasing but the extended family
sentiments are still surviving. So, the contemporary change is towards adaptive
change in the family and marriage.

3. Critically examine the role of civil society in democracy.

Answer: David Held defined civil society as those aspects of social life—the
domestic world, the economic sphere, cultural activities and political interaction—
which are organized by private or voluntary arrangements between individuals
and groups outside the direct control of the state. Various positive functions of a
civil society are as follows.
1) To limit state power—By checking its political abuses and violations of the law
and subjecting them to public scrutiny.

2) To empower citizens by “increasing the political efficacy and skill of the

democratic citizen and promoting an appreciation of the obligations as well as
rights of democratic citizenship.”

3) To inculcate and promote an arena for the development of democratic

attributes amongst the citizens—Such as tolerance, moderation, a willingness to
compromise and respect for opposing viewpoints.”

4) To provide avenues for political parties and other organizations allowing them to
articulate, aggregate, and represent their interests.

5) To function as a recruiting, informational and leadership generating agency

especially in economically developed societies.
 6) A well founded civil society could act as a shock observing institution, where
wide range of interests that may cross-cut and mitigate the principal polarities of
political conflict.

7) To generate public and political support for successful economic and political
reforms—which require the support of coalitions in society and the legislature.

8) A well-rooted civil society also helps in identifying and train new political leaders.

But, civil society may sometimes function in a way which undermines democracy.
Terrorists groups, riots and violent agitations are the ways in which a civil society
can be a danger to the democracy. In India, Naxalism also represents an ugly face of
civil society where intolerance and violence are unleashed rather than discussions
and debates. Even terrorism of all the types shows the dangers associated with civil
society. Today, many NGOs are acting in an irresponsible way. In the protests at
Kudankulam there were many allegations of NGOs funded by foreign governments
who want to create trouble in India.

Thus, civil society is an important organ of democracy but its activities must be
checked if it behaves in irresponsible and illegal way.

Q8.

1. Illustrate the conflicts and tensions experienced by societies undergoing

social change.
Answer: Social change is long term change in the social, cultural, political and
ideological components of the society. Because of globalization, urbanization and
industrialization there is free flow of ideas and goods happening across the cultures.
In this way the old traditional ideas are giving way to new ideas. Thus, there exists a
situation of flux where new problems are coming into the picture. Therefore, the
social change is the result of problems created, solution aspired and a conservative
reaction to the change.
Consider India first, the traditional social order was characterized by caste and
gender inequalities backed up by religion. But, with the advent of British new ideas
of equality and freedom arrived. Finally, we gave to ourselves a forward looking and
modern constitution which is a major driver of social change. Today, castes like
inequalities are giving way to class like inequalities. Untouchability has become a
thing of past. Women are getting empowered and are asserting them selves and
challenging the traditional patriarchal authority. Family system is changing from
joint to nuclear. Nationalism is challenging the regional identity of people leading to
protests for separate states. Unplanned and rapid urbanization is leading to more
criminal activities in the cities. We had witnessed various movements such as
 backward class movement, dalit movement, environmental movement and ethnic
movements. Because of secularization and assertion of religious bodies is leading to
communalism in the society. Naxalism is the direct result of mismanaged
globalization in the country. Various environmental conflicts and pressure groups
are challenging the western model of development. Therefore, a rapid social change
is happening in Indian society.
In USA, there are social inequalities bases on race. Race is overlapping with poverty
leading to commulative inequality. There is stereotyping of blacks and they are the
first victim of any crime. Capitalism combined with economic recession is affecting
the lives of people. In Britain, we witnessed the riots by underclass where they
looted the grocery shops for food. There are even food riots in few countries
including Somalis where people are dying of hunger.
South Africa is going through a big social change. Now, blacks are asserting
themselves in every sphere. Today, violence is rampant in South Africa as blacks
have still not got their proper rewards. Recently, black miners were shot down by
police as they were demanding more wages. In Pakistan, a rapid and uneven change
is happening. Recently we saw Malala Yousafzai challenging the closed society of
Pakistan.
Thus, social change is happening in every society. to make it more peaceful and
enduring this change must happen in a slow and acceptable manner.

2. Critically examine the cultural theories of social change with suitable

examples.
Answer: Social change is defined as the alteration of mechanisms within the social
structure characterized by changes in cultural symbols, rules of behavior, social
organizations and value systems. Various theories of social change are as follows
(a) Evolutionary Theory: The notion of social evolution was taken from the theories
of biological evolution. Spencer propounded an analogy between social and organic
growth and between society and organization. The theories of social evolution are
composed of one or more of the following principles - change, order, direction,
progress and perfectibility.
Comte proposed a directional theory of society. He suggested that a society evolves
from a theological orientation, to a metaphysical orientation to a positivistic
orientation. Durkheim classified societies into simple societies united by similarity
of their members, (mechanical solidarity) and complex societies based on
specialization and functional interdependence of members (organic solidarity). This
also suggests a directional evolutionary pattern. The criticism of this type is that it is
sometimes difficult in evolutionary theory to differentiate simple direction from
progress
(b) Cyclical Theory: The basic premise of the cyclical theories is that the cultures
and civilizations pass through stages of change, starting and often ending with the
same stage. This passing through stages is called a cycle. The cycle when completed,
repeats itself over and over again. Sorokin’s theory is based on the principle of
immanent socio-cultural change. Sorokin also makes a distinction between three
broad types of culture-ideational, idealist and sensate-which he conceives as
succeeding each other in cycles. Ideational culture is spiritualistic, mystical and
 indeterminate. Sensate culture is the realm of science and of direct sensory
experiences. Idealistic culture has certain characteristic of both the ideational and
sensate cultures. These three types of cultures are looked upon as three views of
reality that change according to the two principles mentioned above. Sorokin’s work
is especially noteworthy not only because it contains a mass of historical analogies and
comments on particular social transformations, but also because it saw societies as
‘changing’ rather than necessarily progressing or decaying.

3. Is religion antithetical to science? Comment.

Answer: Science refers to a systematic body of changing and certified knowledge
based on observable facts. Religion refers to the institutionalized interaction
between human beings and a non-empirical entity where the human being
propitiates and the entity reciprocates.
The relation between science and religion is very complex. At the same time they exist as
competing systems and reinforcing each other. Merton showed that modern science
emerged with the help of Protestantism. It provided legitimacy to the pursuit of this-
worldly goals. Thus religion contributed to the growth of science. But, as science developed
it questioned the logic of religion. For e.g. science doesn’t approve of praying God if
somebody is sick. Rather, it believes in providing the best possible treatment.
There are various parameters where science and religion are opposite to each other. In
science it is the sensory system which is supreme but religion is based on super sensory
state and goes beyond sensation. Science is individualistic whereas religion is collectivistic
and there is unquestioning acceptance of authority in religion. Science is essentially
utilitarian in nature while religion is essentially non-utilitarian. Science is neutral towards
morality but religion is essentially reflects morality.
Science is useful in increasing efficiency and making the life easier by providing
constant inventions. But, today in this fast moving world there is environment of
uncertainty which creates anxiety in the minds of people. As science can’t relieve
this anxiety because there is no finality in science, there is only probability.
According to Malinowsky, it is the religion which relieves the anxiety by promising
absolute rewards. It is truly said that “Science without religion is lame and religion
without science is blind”. Thus, their role is complementary in social life and not
antithetical.